Monday, January 25, 2010

Monica Monica Pumpkin Eater

Pumpkins are some of my favorite things- to eat and to look at. They just make me happy in all their orange globe glory. I still have two pumpkins sitting on my back porch because I can't bear to throw them away. I don't usually cook with pumpkin but I do love to bake with it. It just adds so much moisture to breads.

My all time favorite bread comes from Great Harvest Bread Co. And at $6.99 a loaf it better be good! It just has a wonderfully moist and dense texture and the pumpkin and spices are the perfect balance. I've tried many pumpkin bread recipes and none have ever compared. Except for this recipe. It's nothing like the loaf from Great Harvest but it is equally delicious.

The recipe comes from Elissa of 17 and Baking and is rippled with a cream cheese filling, which puts it over the top. It's tender and pumpkiny and lighter than most pumpkin breads I've tried. I find that baking with oil instead of creaming butter with sugar will yield a moister bread but in this case the recipe uses melted butter so you don't have to wait for your butter to soften- bonus! It was great warmed for a few seconds in the microwave but I also really loved it cold right out of the fridge. Give it a try and decide for yourself.

For the Cream Cheese Filling: Beat the cream cheese just until smooth in a stand mixer or food processor. Add the sugar and process just until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, processing just until incorporated. Do not over process. Stir in the flour. Set aside.

For the Pumpkin Bread: Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl and set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs until lightly beaten. Whisk in the sugar and melted butter, then stir in the pumpkin, water, vanilla extract, and (optionally) nuts.

Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture, being careful not to overmix. A few streaks of flour are fine. Divide the batter in half. Take one half and divide it between the two pans. Pour half of the cream cheese filling into each pan, then top with the remaining half of batter. Smooth the tops and bake an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool loaves to room temperature.

Makes 2 9"x5" loaves.

NOTE: The recipe says to divide the batter in half when you pour it into the pans. I didn't do this (obviously!) and my layers were a little off but it was still good.

Oh that looks yummy!I love pumpkin, I'm getting sad the shelves in the grocery stores near me are running out of pumpkin puree-I heard Libby is closing the plant for 6 mo. and there may be issues next Thanksgiving when the rest of the country plans to buy more so stock up if you can still find it :)

indeed this does look amazing. I made a zucchini bread with cream cheese filling a while back and that just makes it even more delicious!When I lived in HOuston there was a Great Harvest close to me, but up here in NJ there aren't any that I know of and oh how I miss it...

Mmmmmm, delicious. I haven't always loved pumpkim, but I certainly do appreciate it now. And anything with cream cheese must be good, right? Thanks for sharing...I have a similar recipe in the stash I'm working my way through right now.

A friend used to give me a loaf, like this, for Christmas. She never fulfilled her promise to share the recipe with me. Ha! You found it!I agree-- pumpkin and cream cheese-- swoon! This looks terrific.PS: Can't wait to see you post the recipe you were making when we talked. Hint, hint.

This bread would not last long in my house!! But, if it did...do you think it should be stored in the fridge, since it has a cream cheese filling? I never know what to do with cooked cream cheese goodies--to put them in the fridge or not!? :)

This is my favorite bread in the world. I have a friend that makes this to give at Christmas. I find out who else got them and I get on the phone calling and trying to 'sweet talk' everyone out of their pumpkin bread. (Hey it works, I have 4 loaves in the freeer)

Mmmmm, I have some pumpkin in my cabinets begging to be used! I think I know what I'm making on Sunday! Thanks for the yummy photos, I'm drooling at my dest at work right now! Can't wait to make these!

This seems like way way way too much cream cheese. My bread ended up with a thick layer, not a swirl. I suppose I will see what the end result looks like when I take them out of the oven but I'm not very optimistic.

Marina, that would be fine. Pumpkin pie spice has cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. So your bread mat have a little different flavoring with it will still be tasty. Just substitute equal measurements of PP spice for the cinnamon and nutmeg. In this recipe, that would be 1 3/4 teaspoons.

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Welcome To My Blog

My name is Monica and I'm a stay at home mom living in central Texas. I like to cook, but baking is my passion. I am an (obsessive) collector of cake stands, cookbooks and bakeware. I make lots of yummy treats and often share my sweet creations with friends, family and anyone else who is willing to be my guinea pig. I have lots of recipes in the archives so I hope you'll stick around for awhile!

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